Plaintext
OP
EN The
Open Organization Definition
THE OPEN ORGANIZATION DEFINITION 1
2 THE OPEN ORGANIZATION DEFINITION
OP
EN
The Open Organization Definition
By
The Open Organization Ambassadors
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WHAT IS AN OPEN
ORGANIZATION?
Openness is becoming increasingly central to the ways groups and teams of all
sizes are working together to achieve shared goals. And today, the most forward-
thinking organizations—whatever their missions—are embracing openness as a
necessary orientation toward success. They’ve seen that openness can lead to:
Greater agility, as members are more capable of working toward goals in unison
and with shared vision;
Faster innovation, as ideas from both inside and outside the organization receive
more equitable consideration and rapid experimentation, and;
Increased engagement, as members clearly see connections between their
particular activities and an organization’s overarching values, mission, and spirit.
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BUT OPENNESS IS FLUID.
OPENNESS IS MULTIFACETED.
OPENNESS IS CONTESTED.
While every organization is different—and therefore every example of an open
organization is unique—we believe these five characteristics serve as the basic conditions
for openness in most contexts:
Transparency, Inclusivity, Adaptability, Collaboration, Community.
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TRANSPARENCY
INCLUSIVITY
ADAPTABILITY
COLLABORATION
COMMUNITY
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CHARACTERISTICS OF
AN OPEN ORGANIZATION
Open organizations take many shapes. Their sizes, compositions, and missions vary.
But the following five characteristics are the hallmarks of any open organization.
In practice, every open organization likely exemplifies each one of these
characteristics differently, and to a greater or lesser extent. Moreover, some
organizations that don’t consider themselves open organizations might
nevertheless embrace a few of them. But truly open organizations embody them
all—and they connect them in powerful and productive ways.
That fact makes explaining any one of the characteristics difficult without
reference to the others.
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TRANSPARENCY
In open organizations, transparency reigns. As much as possible (and advisable)
under applicable laws, open organizations work to make their data and other
materials easily accessible to both internal and external participants; they are open
for any member to review them when necessary (see also inclusivity). Decisions
are transparent to the extent that everyone affected by them understands the
processes and arguments that led to them; they are open to assessment (see also
collaboration). Work is transparent to the extent that anyone can monitor and assess
a project’s progress throughout its development; it is open to observation and
potential revision if necessary (see also adaptability).
In open organizations, transparency looks like:
• Everyone working on a project or • Leaders encourage others to tell
initiative has access to all pertinent stories about both their failures
materials by default. and their successes without fear
of repercussion; associates are
• People willingly disclose their work,
forthcoming about both.
invite participation on projects before
those projects are complete and/ • People value both success and failures
or “final,” and respond positively to for the lessons they provide.
request for additional details.
• Goals are public and explicit, and
• People affected by decisions can people working on projects clearly
access and review the processes and indicate roles and responsibilities to
arguments that lead to those decisions, enhance accountability.
and they can comment on and respond
to them.
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INCLUSIVITY
Open organizations are inclusive. They not only welcome diverse points of view but
also implement specific mechanisms for inviting multiple perspectives into dialog
wherever and whenever possible. Interested parties and newcomers can begin
assisting the organization without seeking express permission from each of its
stakeholders (see also collaboration). Rules and protocols for participation are clear
(see also transparency) and operate according to vetted and common standards.
In open organizations, inclusivity looks like:
• Technical channels and social norms for • Leaders are conscious of voices not
encouraging diverse points of view are present in dialog and actively seek to
well-established and obvious. include or incorporate them.
• Protocols and procedures for • People feel a duty to voice opinions on
participation are clear, widely issues relevant to their work or about
available, and acknowledged, which they are passionate.
allowing for constructive inclusion
• People work transparently and share
of diverse perspectives.
materials via common standards and/
or agreed-upon platforms that do
• The organization features multiple
not prevent others from accessing or
channels and/or methods for receiving
modifying them.
feedback in order to accommodate
people’s preferences.
• Leaders regularly assess and respond
to feedback they receive, and cultivate
a culture that encourages frequent
dialog regarding this feedback.
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ADAPTABILITY
Open organizations are flexible and resilient organizations. Organizational policies
and technical apparatuses ensure that both positive and negative feedback loops
have a genuine and material effect on organizational operation; participants can
control and potentially alter the conditions under which they work. They report
frequently and thoroughly on the outcomes of their endeavors (see also
transparency) and suggest adjustments to collective action based on assessments
of these outcomes. In this way, open organizations are fundamentally oriented
toward continuous engagement and learning.
In open organizations, adaptability looks like:
• Feedback mechanisms are accessible • Processes for collective problem
both to members of the organization solving, collaborative decision making,
and to outside members, who can and continuous learning are in place,
offer suggestions. and the organization rewards both
•
personal and team learning to reinforce
• Feedback mechanisms allow and a growth mindset.
encourage peers to assist one another
• People tend to understand the context
another without managerial oversight,
for the changes they are making or or
if necessary.
or experiencing.
• Leaders work to ensure that feedback
• People are not afraid to make mistakes,
feedback loops genuinely and
yet projects and teams are comfortable
materially impact the ways people in
adapting their pre-existing work to
in the organization operate.
project-specific contexts in order to
avoid repeated failures.
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COLLABORATION
Work in an open organization involves multiple parties by default. Participants
believe that joint work produces better (more effective, more sustainable)
outcomes, and specifically seek to involve others in their efforts (see also inclusivity).
Products of work in open organizations afford additional enhancement and revision,
even by those not affiliated with the organization (see also adaptability).
In open organizations, collaboration looks like:
• People tend to believe that working • Work produced collaboratively is
together produces better results. easily available internally for others
to build upon.
• People tend to begin work
collaboratively, rather than “add • Work produced collaboratively is
collaboration” after they’ve each available externally for creators outside
completed individual components of the organization to use in potentially
of work. unforeseen ways.
• People tend to engage partners • People can discover, provide feedback
outside their immediate teams when on, and join work in progress easily—
undertaking new projects. and are welcomed to do so.
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COMMUNITY
Open organizations are communal. Shared values and purpose guide participation
in open organizations, and these values—more so than arbitrary geographical
locations or hierarchical positions—help determine the organization’s boundaries
and conditions of participation. Core values are clear, but also subject to
continual revision and critique, and are instrumental in defining conditions for an
organization’s success or failure (see also adaptability).
In open organizations, community looks like:
• Shared values and principles • People have a common language and
that inform decision-making and work together to ensure that ideas
assessment processes are clear and do not get “lost in translation,” and
obvious to members. they are comfortable sharing their
knowledge and stories to further the
• People feel equipped and empowered
group’s work.
to make meaningful contributions to
collaborative work.
• Leaders mentor others and
demonstrate strong accountability to
the group by modeling shared values
and principles.
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“OPEN” “TRANSPARENCY’S MESSY” “BRING YOUR FRIENDS”
Digital illustration Digital illustration Handmade stamps, ink
Nick Burns critter Libby Levi
Title, Creative Strategy + Design, Red Hat Senior Graphic Designer, People Team, Red Hat Lead Designer, Brand Team, Red Hat
crittervision.com libbylevi.com
Limitless possibilities exist when you embrace Transparency’s messy, and not always easy. But We’re all different. We all bring something unique
openness. Like stepping into daylight, there is a the rewards are plenty. Transparency encourages and valuable when we become part of a community.
greater world waiting to be explored. openness, inclusivity, adaptability, collaboration, Being inclusive means that the things that make us
and community. We value these things. For life <3 different, in the end, are less important than what
we build together.
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“ADAPTABILITY” “COLLABORATION” “COMMUNITY”
Digital illustration Digital illustration Digital illustration
Jenna Slawson Masha Leonova Colleen Shelley
Senior Designer, Brand Team, Red Hat Web Interaction Designer, PNT Operations, Red Hat Art Director, Creative Strategy + Design, Red Hat
mashaleonova.wordpress.com colleenbrea.com
It is easy to see the similarities in equipment Red thread is reminiscent of several myths and A community is defined by having shared values
and technology used to allow humans to explore legends, one of which is the legend of red string and purpose. This illustration shows how happy a
both deep space and the deep ocean. Findings, from Japan. According to this myth, everyone’s community can be when all members are aligned
developments, and advancements in one field can pinky finger is tied to an invisible red string and rally around the same vision.
solve problems and speed up innovation in another. that will lead them to another person with whom
We can learn from others and adapt accordingly. they will make history. All people in the illustration
are connected and together come up with
something exceptional!
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Book design by Abby Gartner
All written content and artwork licensed via Creative Commons
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Version 2.0
Updated April 2017
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OPEN ORGANIZATION AMBASSADORS
Our Vision
We are the Open Organization Ambassadors, a group of Opensource.com community
members dedicated to teaching others about the ways open source principles can
enhance (and ultimately reshape) organizational cultures.
We write about, discuss, and evangelize organizational cultures predicated on
transparency, adaptability, collaboration, inclusivity, and community.
Our Commitments
Learning. We’re researching the ways open source values so we can better understand
how they are influencing today’s innovative organizational cultures, and we’re always
refining the “open organization” concept, differentiating or distinguishing it from
seemingly similar approaches to management and leadership.
Helping. We’re a trusted resource for anyone interested in leveraging the power of
open principles to improve their organizations.
Translating. We explain community-specific vocabularies to general audiences seeking
to understand the benefits of an open approach to management and leadership.
Engaging. We draw others into productive dialogues and exploratory activities that
illuminate the benefits of applying open thinking to organizational contexts.
Join Us.
To learn more about the Open Organization Ambassadors, visit: https://opensource.
com/open-organization/resources/ambassadors-program
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